132 Mr. J. H. Gurney on additional species of Birds 



133. Merops savignii, Swains, ex LeVaill. Savigny's Bee- 

 eater. 



Male. Eye bright crimson ; legs and feet dark brown ; bill 

 black. Its stomach was full of a small kind of wasp. These birds 

 take their food on the wing, and their flight somewhat resembles 

 that of the Swallows ; they frequently alight on the trees and 

 bushes to rest ; during flight they utter a harsh grating note. 

 I believe they only inhabit the coast-lands, and are migratory, 

 appearing only in the summer months. 



134. BucoRAX ABYSSiNicus (Gmclin). Abyssinian Honi- 

 biU. 



Eye very light brown ; legs, feet, and bill black ; skin of the 

 neck and round the eye bright red. In the stomach of the male 

 were snakes, beetles and other insects. These birds are grega- 

 rious, and to be found here all the year round, but are not very 

 plentiful, generally three or four, sometimes more together. They 

 are very fond of hunting for their food on ground from which 

 the grass has been burnt ; with their strong bills they peck up 

 the hard ground, and turn over lumps in search of insects, 

 making the dust fly again ; having found an insect or other food, 

 they take it up, and giving their head a toss, the bill pointing 

 upward, appear to let the food roll down their throat. They 

 also kill large snakes in the following manner*. On discovering 

 a snake, three or four of the birds advance sideways towards it, 

 with their wings stretched out, and with their quills flap at and 

 irritate the snake till he seizes them by the wing-feathers, when 

 they immediately all close round and give him violent pecks 

 with their long and sharp bills, quickly withdi*awing again 

 when the snake leaves his hold. This they repeat till the snake 

 is dead. If the reptile advances on them, they place both wings 

 in front of them, completely covering their heads and most 

 vulnerable parts. Their call, which consists of but one note 

 repeated, a deep and sonorous coo-coo, may be heard at a great 



* The manner in which the Abyssinian Hornbill attacks the large 

 snakes was first communicated to me by Mr. Ay res in 1858, and appeared 

 in the ' Zoologist' for that year. Mr. A5res having confirmed the state- 

 ment in his present paper, I have thought it worth while here to include 

 it, although not now published for the first time. — J. H. G. 



